Posts Tagged ‘Motorboy’

In the spring of 2009 nearly 50 of Bristol’s best known and most successful graffiti and street artists invaded the city’s oldest and grandest gallery, the Royal West Of England Academy (RWA). It was a brave gamble allowing the art to be spray directly onto the walls of the Academy, but a gamble that paid of as record numbers attended and it was hailed as the show of the year.

These auctions are all about an artist called Rowdy. You may or may not know him or his work but you will have no doubt seen his trademark crocodiles. His career has been relentless; establishing in 1987 when he became an integral part of the Bristol graffiti scene and in which he is still remains instrumental.

We have had the pleasure of working with Rowdy and he has become a good friend of ours and so were obviously devastated to hear when, recently left his house, (and studio) for a walk, he returned just half hour later, to find everything had been burned to the ground. EVERYTHING! ID, money, clothes, personal possessions, art, the ability to make art, everything gone!

We realise that there are a whole host of charitable causes worth fighting for, countries that have suffered huge natural disaster who need aid, but there are times too when friends need help and so for the next couple of weeks there are a number of art auctions on e-bay, organised by Steal from Work and Burning Candy. All profit will go towards helping Rowdy get back on his feet and start over and to support someone who has so readily supported us as a scene by auctioning some art to help him get back to a position where he can do what he does best, making art.

It’s a testament to his popularity and reputation that so many artists have donated work to this auction. All work has been personally donated by the artists and the galleries that represent them: Banksy, Paul Insect, Swoon, Sickboy, Hush, Espo, the whole Burning Candy crew and a whole bunch more… So, it’s your chance to buy something beautiful and at the same time help out someone who has helped in his way to make graffiti and street art what it is today.

The auctions have started but there is still plenty of time to bid on the current auctions plus a promise of more to follow so go and check them out.

Here are the details folks – should be a good one so please drop by and show your love x

When: 4th – 20th December 2009

Art-el & Tunnadine Fine Art present ‘Advent’

Advent aims to provide a visual seasonal treat and bring an end to the period of expectant waiting, brightening up the festive season with a unique exhibition of new ideas and visual delights.

This show will bring you work from a wave of the galleries newer artists who present an aesthetic of visually challenging work, ranging from classic figurative portraiture to the grimy and still developing genre of the street. Although this show will be far removed from the usual urban/street art crew they are both primarily associated.

Selected from each gallery is a mix of local, international and national artists from as far afield as the USA, Portugal and Swansea!

The period of expectant waiting and preparation will cease and commence simultaneously at 7 p.m. on Friday 4th December at the newly discovered and delightful ‘2° Degrees Gallery’, a new creative space situated in Montpelier, in the heart of Bristol’s creative quarter.

If you only get to one exhibition this year, make it this one at the Royal West Of England Academy in Bristol, a major show of new work by the city’s best known and most successful graffiti and street artists and is the first show of its kind in the city since the Arnolfini’s groundbreaking 1985 show, Graffiti Art.

Celebrating Bristols rich and diverse contemporary scene, which has nurtured many of the UK’s most successful graffiti and street artists, including 3D, Inkie, Banksy, Nick Walker, Sickboy and TCF Crew, and continues to be a breeding ground for a wealth of exceptional creative talent.

We have been lucky enough to have visited the venue to watch the work being thrown up and it is going to be a killer of a show. It opens on Friday night and and is open for 6 weeks so get along.

Summer News

Oi Oi
Note to self: Make mail out’s short and punchy.
Note from accounts: Rant & Waffle for England as these things cost $0.20 per recipient.
Yes folks we’ve reached the heady heights of the British summer so make haste with the sandbags & waders, come on, jump aboard the venga bus we’re off to high ground.
The Art-el ‘Happy Bus’ are pleased to announce that our numbers are growing and the resistance is strong.
First up is Mr Will Barass, the quintessential Englishman, never happier than when relaxing to the sound of leather on willow.
Will Barras is an illustrator and artist living and working in London. Born in Birmingham in 1973 he spent his formative years in Bristol. The subject matter is readily familiar, but captured in a manner that seems to jar time and space with absent mindedness, inattention and an evocative sense of exploration.
A founding member of the ‘Scrawl Collective’, Will has courted success worldwide and his latest solo show titled ‘’An Absolute Shower’’ has just opened to rave reviews at the Carmichael Gallery in LA.
Next up another man of prodigious talent and impeccable manners, a man whose work has stunned us for some time now and we are cock a hoop to bring you the work of ChinaMike (or dynamite) whichever rolls from ones tongue best. His work is so technically well executed that many pass his work by, thinking it’s just the ‘same old’ lazy photoshop! How wrong they are, this lad has the skills to pay the bills. Painting with a brush so damn fine that I can only best describe as ‘five eyelashes’ bound together, creating lines and detail that is so minutiae that it burns your retinas just watching him paint. As he stopped for coffee last week the sound of his bones cracking rang round the studio as his body unfurled ‘fern like’ from his painting hunch. Like a fool I interjected with a ‘How long do you reckon each piece takes China?’ He turned to me poker faced and politely said that he ‘didn’t like to think about it’!!
We start up with a few originals and some brand new screen prints in the next week or so.
China’s work has been showcased recently for painting Let Them Hang’s ‘First Great Weston’ a tribute & props to Screen One’s print guru Paul Weston. Trumpeting the 40 plus years of printing from the man that hand pulled many of the early works by Banksy & Nick Walker and many many more.
There’s always room for a right royal ball’s up so here goes. The northern sage & wit known to most as Misteraitch consigned us some prints for the 12 Days of Xmas show with the intention of the unsold ones going straight onto Art-el…………………….so here you have it folks with a mere 200 day’s till Xmas we give you the heads up on these two little festive beauties titled ‘The Ang-azing Ga-gy Jee-gus’ & ‘Peace’……..sorry Aitch.
Fresh out of North Londinium, and smuggled along the snake that is the M4, comes work from the ever creative, workaholic and insomniac that is Adam Koukoudakis. Having emerged from his most creative year to date Adz has again hit the floor running and turning heads all the while. At ease with a plethora of mediums as well as his very own unique CMYK paintings.

Having recently sold out in shows in Bristol & Japan the niche is being carved. He has recently put to bed the loveable Cheeky F**kin Pigz characters and in his latest body of work the artist also bids farewell to the Father n’ Son series, with the unleashing of another step into a new medium of collaged comic, plus a new Art-el favourite in the ‘Stencils are for Cu… series!
New work from Brighton’s brightest, bright young thing, Pam Glew who has had a whirlwind start to 2008 showing at a group show in LA, followed by her recent smash show at the Fair Trade Gallery, Brighton. Expect some very limited edition screen prints, more of the hugely popular ‘Red Fear’ stencil series and something of a first at Art-el……………….embroidery!
June brings us our first in house print from the master of the doodle, Scrawl founding member and the font of all Jedi wisdom, Mr Jago. The print titled ‘So Much’ is an edition of 123 and weighs in at 100 pounds sterling. His new free flowing ‘abstract mental, experimental sheite’ (his words not ours) is going down a storm and along with his much in demand originals things are building nicely towards his London solo show in the Autumn.
Incoming for June/July we will be mixing it up with work from Graham ‘Paris’ & his trusty partner in crime Milk who both featured in the recent documentary ‘Tags to Riches’ which was shown on Sky & ITV.
A new and exclusive screen print from one of our favourite street urchins K-Guy & originals & new work by the talented man from steel city known as Tom Hine, whom we’re waiting to mend, after throwing himself out of a paraglider…………….no shit, proper spacky blue cast to boot. Get well soon.
All this merriment and still yet to mention man of the moment Motorboy, the much lauded Brian Jones, ever increasingly talked of as the new ‘pop artist’ of a generation. The wonder of the female form, celebrated in contrasting yet intriguing styles by the sassy & lovable pair Dora and Ria Hill. Throw in the likes of Aussies Simon Lovelace & Ben Frost and another of our favourite street renegades Dr D and the mad old world of Jason Atomic and it really is a creative hive.
As ever a huge Art-el big love to all those that have supported, patronized, heckled, helped, harassed, stalked, shafted, buttered, bribed, bruised and generally amused us in our fledgling venture thus far. Late nights, opening nights and monster hangovers, to the folk we’ve burned and boozed with x.

To the artists, whose show it is, we merely try to conduct. God bless em, someone has to!
We’re out, All@art-el

Just a quick newsletter to bring you bang up to date with what has, is and will be going on over the next few weeks and months.

With just a moment’s reflection it was wicked that (man of the moment) SPQR’s first print release sold out in super quick time, so a huge thanks to everyone who ordered, not only the print but weighed in buying work from all artists featured on the site and of course thanks to the artists.

On the same tip, a huge shout to Nick Walker, Pam Glew, Adam Koukoudakis and Brian Jones who have all enjoyed success in LA in recent months.

(Note to self, shut up and get on with it)

We are pleased to hear that Mr Koukoudakis has just put the finishing touches to a nice edition on canvas of the image that has proved to be his most popular to date, Cheeky F**ckin’ Pigs!

Add to the mixer 4 new pieces of ‘utter loveliness’ on wood, from the little cockney diamond known as Dora.She will soon be launching www.okdora.com, which will document her work, both indoor and out and generally ‘Dora’ things up.

Seems like Jago has gone abstract mental, he’s really dropping some fresh works now that he’s up and running in his new studio space. We will be putting up a new canvas more sweet originals on fancy paper.

There are another 6 SPQR 5th Man studies available which will grace the site for a mere 3 seconds very soon.

Looking forward to the sunny end of spring we have new and old pieces from Graham Paris (TCF Crew, Wet Shame, Kuilddosh and legendary typographer), along with new works from K-Guy and originals and prints from a number of the South West’s finest.

ALL new work will be released on a totally random basis i.e. when the insomnia is bad it could be 2am which would suit those not adhering to GMT!